amfAR Holds a Think Tank Meeting at MIT

That's amazing. Who were the 10 experts you invited? I think everyone would be curious to see that list.

Advertisement

The first person was Sandra Bridges. She's worked on HIV from the very beginning and helps coordinate research for the Division of AIDS, at the NIH. John Coffin from Tufts University co-discovered the ultrasensitive assay, which can detect less than a third of virus per mL of blood. Mort Cowan, at the University of California at San Francisco, has been working on the gene therapy of HIV for about a decade, and is head of a transplant program there, at UCSF. Steven Deeks, also from the University of California at San Francisco, did a baboon stem cell transplant, probably about 10 years ago, in an attempt to see whether baboon cells, which are resistant to HIV infection, could be used to help the immune system of a young man who had HIV. Dr. Gero Hütter is the physician for the patient. Judy Lieberman, from Harvard University, has spent a long period of time trying to create animal models for a way that HIV and also herpes viruses might be cured by making cells resistant to infection by herpes viruses and by HIV using gene therapy. David Margolis is head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina and a long-term AIDS researcher. John Zaia is from the City of Hope, outside of Pasadena, Calif. He heads a bone marrow transplant program there. John has also been working for almost a decade on the potential of stem cell transplants to treat HIV. Dong Sung An is from Irvin Chen's group at UCLA [University of California, Los Angeles]. He's involved in monkey studies related to the use of stem cell therapies in animals as models for curing HIV.

When we do these think tanks from amfAR, there's also staff invited. So Kevin Frost, who's our chief executive officer at amfAR, was in attendance. We always invite one journalist to cover it. The journalist was Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Schoofs. His Pulitzer Prize winning work was related to circumcision and condom use in Africa. [Click here to read Mark Schoofs' articles.]

That was a one-time meeting, but due to this meeting, my editorial in The AIDS Reader6 and my commentary for amfAR, I started getting calls from transplant programs throughout the United States saying they think they have an eligible patient for this.

So, with amfAR's blessing, a core group of transplanters was created that would make certain that we had the best protocol to treat the next eligible person that had a match. Some people from the group that I just mentioned are on this panel, but I also have additional people from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard.

What's Stopping U.S. HIV Researchers From Working on Experiments Like This?

What's the status of that?

Thus far, we've had two individuals who are virtually identical twins of the Berlin patient; that is, they are 40-year-old individuals who were treated with HAART [highly active antiretroviral therapy] for HIV for many years that unfortunately developed acute myelogenous leukemia and needed, and got, treated with chemotherapy, but will need bone marrow transplants.

Unfortunately, there are two obstacles. The first obstacle is getting a match. The person I was so enthused about here at our own hospital had no matches among the 13 million adult donors that we searched. There were some acceptable matches from our cord blood program, which uses blood from the placenta where you can get stem cells. The trouble is that because you don't get a whole lot of blood from a placenta, and therefore you don't get a whole lot of stem cells, you often need to use two or three of them. The statistical improbability of finding two or three exact matches that will also be delta32 CCR5 negative is just astronomical.

Basically, we cannot find matches for the individuals that we're presented with. The hope is though that somewhere we will find a match.

Why can't you use the people in Germany?

It's a worldwide match, so the German registry's on our registry. However, the tissue-type match has to be exact. Remember, I mentioned that Dr. Hütter initially went about finding a match the way we all do, by searching among the 13 million people in the worldwide registry, and he found 232 acceptable matches.1

"This could never, ever have been done in the United States first. It could be done in Europe because they have a socialized medicine system. No one asked the question who's paying for this."

Had he not been concerned about curing the person of leukemia and curing the person of HIV, he could have used patient number one out of 232. Instead, he set out to test all 232 for the delta32 mutation and then use the person with that mutation. I mentioned before that the odds -- at least among Caucasians, and the vast majority of people who contribute to these banks are Caucasian -- are 1.5 percent.

So out of 232 individuals, statistically, Hütter was bound to find one match with the delta32 mutation, and he did. Number 61 out of 232 was not only an exact tissue-type match, but also had the delta32 mutation.

Our second problem has to do with money. This could never, ever have been done in the United States first. It could be done in Europe because they have a socialized medicine system. No one asked the question who's paying for this. Forget about HIV right now -- if you have leukemia in the United States, and you need a bone marrow transplant, most insurance companies will pay for 10 screens. Some of the more unusual ones might pay for 20 at a time. So you can search through the 13 million in the adult bone marrow registry. If you need to, you can also go through the cord bloods. You come up with a bunch of matches and insurance will pay for calling in the first 10.

The likelihood that you'll find a person who is available is very good.

Usually, we don't even need to go through all 10. But that's not going to help someone with HIV. As I mentioned, Dr. Hütter's patient had 232 matches. They could have taken the first one. He wouldn't have gotten to number 61. He wouldn't have gotten to number 10, certainly not number 20, or 30, or 40. It took him 61 tries. They would have never been able to call in patient number 61 after having had 60 other perfectly good matches.

Couldn't this be done through an NIH or academic study?

"What we really need is a new program for the bone marrow registry in the United States, if not worldwide, where we get permission initially to test for CCR5 in everyone, the way we test for tissue types and several other things that are mandated. If we had information about CCR5 status, we wouldn't have to bother calling potential matches in to test them for CCR5. We would just do this search for free on the computer."

Someone would have to pay for it. Calling the people in takes administrative money. Doing the confirmatory typing test is about 2,000 dollars a pop.

Again, all this is free in Germany. Then there's the CCR5 testing, which we could probably do in an experimental lab for maybe five or six dollars.

What we really need is a new program for the bone marrow registry in the United States, if not worldwide, where we get permission initially to test for CCR5 in everyone, the way we test for tissue types and several other things that are mandated. If we had information about CCR5 status, we wouldn't have to bother calling potential matches in to test them for CCR5. We would just do this search for free on the computer.

What we at amfAR are trying to do is raise funds to do CCR5 typing on tissues that are already in banks that are accessible to us. For example, at City of Hope, they have a registry of about 40,000 available cord bloods. They could all be tested for CCR5 if funds were available. There are many other institutions that have these registries, not all of which are actually in the worldwide registry, in terms of cord blood because it's a relatively new thing that could be tested.

I think to add CCR5 information to the list of things that a potential donor is tested for will take some political will within the transplant community itself. It would be great if we could do it. It's one of the things that we're advocating for at amfAR.

How much money do you need to do this?

To do the simplest thing, that is to just test the available cord blood stem cells that are available through these private banks like City of Hope, we're probably talking about, with administrative costs, at most 10 dollars a pop. If each of these banks has 30,000 or 40,000 samples, then we're talking about 300,000 to 400,000 dollars to screen all of them.

Can our listeners donate to amfAR to get this thing moving?

They can donate to amfAR and designate it for the cure. That would be one of the things that we're looking at. But I don't want anyone to think if they give one dollar that's going to pay for one person's testing; I can't guarantee that. It basically goes towards these kinds of studies, like typing patients for CCR5 and research into trying to move this out of just this one peculiar scenario to "How do we develop this into a cure for everyone?" That's the kind of research that amfAR's talking about and that we'd like people to donate to.

What does it say about the HIV research community in general that this experiment was done by someone who's completely outside the HIV research community? The patient's physician, Gero Hütter, isn't an HIV specialist.

He's a young hematologist. It says a lot about our health care system. It doesn't say anything about our research. Everybody and their brother who has ever heard of HIV knew that this was possible and wanted to do it.

I've had protocols available to do HIV stem cell therapies for almost four, five years. It's just that what you need is the appropriate patient. So it's not for the lack of knowledge. Everyone was waiting for someone who was HIV positive and young, who then developed a disease like leukemia, severe lymphoma or myeloma, and required a bone marrow transplant. That person just happened to walk in the door in Berlin.

That was the first obstacle. You had to actually find the person. Statistically, the likelihood of finding a person like that is one person every two years in Germany.

I've calculated that we should find about 10 people just like that every year in the United States. I've already had three such patients, in just a few months, referred to me.

So we know those people are out there to replicate. The second obstacle has to do with what I mentioned about insurance and the way we screen people.

In Germany, Dr. Hütter was able to go through all of that because he didn't have to worry about doing the extra tissue typing and whether the patient was going to be able to afford it and so forth and the patient wasn't even a German citizen.

Amazing.

In the United States, the way we pay for health care is very different. If you're doing a transplant to cure leukemia, it is perfectly reasonable for the insurance company to then say, "We've had a long history. We know that just paying for the first 10 matches is all you need to do." And they're right.

"Physicians in the bone marrow transplant community are trying to work around some of these rules, trying to see whether we can get CCR5 testing added to the list of other things that people are tested for. When you volunteer to be a donor, rather than just testing your blood type and your tissue type, and testing for certain infections, what if they also tested for CCR5?"

But if we're trying to cure HIV, we need to bring in everybody that's a potential donor to test them for the CCR5 mutation. I haven't tested that with an insurance company, but I'd bet they'd look at it with an askance eye because it's an experimental procedure. As you know, insurance companies don't pay for experimental procedures.

What a tragedy that one of the impediments to a possible cure is structural.

Right, but again, I should mention that this is a cure for the one-in-a-million person.

But it is structural. That is absolutely, positively correct. Physicians in the bone marrow transplant community are trying to work around some of these rules, trying to see whether we can get CCR5 testing added to the list of other things that people are tested for. When you volunteer to be a donor, rather than just testing your blood type and your tissue type, and testing for certain infections, what if they also tested for CCR5? It would add an incredibly small amount to the cost of the work. It's not going to do anything for the 13 million who are already in the registry, but wouldn't it be nice to have that information for the next 13 million that volunteer over the years? That's something we're working on.

Can activists accelerate this process?

Activists can accelerate a lot of things. The last meeting that I had with this group of transplanters was in April. I need to see where we are and how far they've gotten, and then I may ask for your help.

What Is the Most Important HIV Research Being Done Now to Address Finding a Cure for HIV/AIDS?

In your opinion, what is the most important research being done regarding curing HIV?

It's figuring out how we take this proof of concept from one patient and do it on demand.

The ideas are out there on how to do it. Basically, what you need to do is mutate this gene in every single cell that you're going to transplant into a person. What if we just took the person's own cells, or that of the next available donor that walks in the door who happens not to have the CCR5 mutation -- as statistically they won't -- and genetically give them the mutation?

Can we knock out the gene for CCR5? That's called genetic engineering. We're really good at doing genetic engineering in one cell. But the average person getting transplanted is getting a few billion cells, and we have to guarantee that 100.0 percent of those few billion cells all have their genes modified. We could take a few hundred or a few thousand cells, make certain that every single one of them has that gene modified, and then grow them into billions of cells that we can inject back into the patient, but we don't know how to do that.

Some of the physician scientists that I mentioned that I invited to our think tank in September are working on that. They're working on it in mice, and they're working on it in monkeys. With current technology, in a monkey or in a mouse or in a test tube, you can knock out the CCR5 gene in maybe as much as 90 percent of the cells. But we need 100.0 percent of cells to be CCR5 negative, because if even one little cell has the capacity to be infected with HIV and it starts multiplying in your body, that's the end of your cure.

So I think it's partly a technology problem, and that's where research comes in. We know what we need to knock out: CCR5. We have people looking, as I mentioned earlier, for other things that might account for other people being resistant to getting infected with HIV. If we find those changes, we'll have other targets to knock out.

All we need to do now is come up with better technologies than the small interfering RNAs, the zinc finger nucleases, the oligonucleotide reductases, the ribozymes and so forth. All these words for ways that we knock stuff out to get us closer to 100 percent. That's where research is so important.

"This is an important area of research that needs multiple people looking at it from multiple different angles because none of those technologies are 100 percent accurate in knocking a single gene out in 100 percent of the cells."

I have a lot of faith in this kind of research. It's going to enable us to just take cells from the first acceptable donor, as if the patient didn't have HIV, knock out that gene and give it to the patient, and replicate what happened in Berlin.

Who do you think is doing the best research on a cure today in the United States, or in Canada?

It's happening throughout all the universities that I mentioned. I obviously sought to get the best scientists from the best universities, or at least representatives from those groups.

This is an important area of research that needs multiple people looking at it from multiple different angles because none of those technologies are 100 percent accurate in knocking a single gene out in 100 percent of the cells. We need to come up with either refinements of those available technologies or new technologies. We need as many people working at this as possible, and that's what's happening.

I've been in AIDS research forever. I was actually first author on the paper by the two Nobel Laureates Drs. Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, in which they document their virus as the cause of AIDS.7 It appeared in the same June 1984 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine as Bob Gallo's paper documenting in a large number of people that his virus was the cause of AIDS.8

I'd gone to the Institut Pasteur with about 70 blood samples from young men with unusual diseases whom I had been following since the late '70s -- that was the group Drs. Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi tested their virus on.

I've been the first scientific advisor to amfAR since it was formed by Dr. Mathilde Krim and Elizabeth Taylor, back in 1985. So I've seen all of this and many potential hopes.

"A replication of the Berlin patient with a cheap, easily accessible method of doing gene knockouts in stem cells, I think, will be the most widely available cure. But until it can be done in a person's own cells, it's just not going to be widely applicable."

I saw the miracle that HAART therapies are, but we're not going to treat our way out of this epidemic. There's not enough money in the world -- or maybe even will in the world -- to treat every single person that needs it, although people are trying. What we really need is a cure, and with more and more people working on it, I think we're going to get there.

If you were a betting man, what would you bet would most likely lead us to a cure?

A replication of the Berlin patient with a cheap, easily accessible method of doing gene knockouts in stem cells, I think, will be the most widely available cure. But until it can be done in a person's own cells, it's just not going to be widely applicable.

I've gotten phone calls from people saying, "I have HIV. I am so tired of being on these drugs. I don't have leukemia and I don't need a bone marrow transplant, but I want you to search for a CCR5 mutation for me. I'll pay for it. I want to be cured."

I have to tell them that there is a tremendously high death rate from this procedure when you're not using your own cells, but are instead using the cells of an unrelated donor. Upwards of 15 to 20 percent of people die within the first 100 days of the procedure itself. In other words, we only do that kind of procedure, as was done in Berlin, if the person's going to die from his or her leukemia if we don't do the transplant.

So someone without leukemia, or any cancer, is still at risk for death from a stem cell transplant?

Someone who needs what we call a MUD, a matched unrelated donor transplant, has within the first 100 days a 15 to 20 percent chance of dying.

It has nothing to do with their cancer?

It has nothing to do with their cancer. It's related to all that toxic therapy that is given to them -- the radiation, the immunosuppression and the cancer drugs themselves -- that make them susceptible to infections and to other unusual immune disorders that basically kill them.

That's why this is only done in an attempt to cure someone of his or her underlying disease, such as leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma, not HIV.

Clearly, what a cure is going to look like is not subjecting anyone to anything with that kind of a risk of death. A cure is going to involve knocking out these genes in the patient's own cells to remove some of that risk of dying, because the risk of dying from what's called an autologous transplant is incredibly low, on the order of 1 percent or less. So that's the way we need to get at this. Thus far, it's still at the level of research.

So it's being done in the lab, but not in humans yet?

No, there are human studies ongoing in multiple places.

If somebody wanted to join these studies, how would he or she find out about them?

Good question. At the moment, individual universities are recruiting patients. There are cancer registries for stem cell therapies, but I don't know whether the studies that I just alluded to are actually on any national registries.

How does amfAR stay current about this man in Berlin?

Through me because I organized the think tank to describe this patient, helped announce it to the world and organized the distribution of blood samples to physicians worldwide for testing. Dr. Hütter, as I mentioned, keeps in touch with me regularly, including just last night.

Because I've now become a sort of clearinghouse for other patients throughout the United States, I'm staying on top of it for amfAR and for other people interested not only in that patient's progress, but anyone else that might be treated at another university.

You said previously that the Berlin patient is doing well. Does this mean he's working? What is he doing?

After his second transplant, because he had some mental status changes, which are now thought to be related to the transplant, he had to go to a nursing facility for a while. He left the nursing facility several months ago. He's now back home. I don't know if he's back at his job, but as of yesterday, he's feeling well. He has no complaints. For confidentiality reasons, there are certain things that I'm not supposed to know, and so I'm not certain that they're going to tell me where he works, but they might tell me whether he's working or not.

So he's not interested in being interviewed or being public about this?

I've asked that question. I've not spoken to him, but the statement that I was given is that he's considering coming to the United States, and would be willing to give interviews at that point. Dr. Hütter will keep me abreast of that. It was supposed to happen in the spring, but it didn't happen. So he's not giving interviews from where he is now, but there's the potential that he may give an interview in the future.

Comment by: otlaagwa obert
(botswana)
Fri., May. 9, 2014 at 11:01 am UTC
well in addition i really hope one day i will find a cure for HIV and aids.we have to work hard to find the cure for this deadly disease as lot of people are losing their lives due to this

Comment by: Evans Baloyi
(Pretoria)
Wed., Aug. 29, 2012 at 6:56 am UTC
It's very amazing when to what heppened to this patient.but what i'm asking my self is that,isin't any other way the WHO can gather their team and help put a stop to HIV.what doctors did was incredible big ups to them and everyone else who never give up cotributing to end this disease.stand up earth and team up,we need anything,anyone,anytool we can get to make our next generation a healthy environment.thank you

Comment by: Lorena
(HOUSTON TEXAS)
Wed., Apr. 18, 2012 at 5:46 pm UTC
Hi my name is lorena and I just turned 20 I have hiv since I was 18. I was pregnant when I found out the terrible news but thanks to all the meds I took my baby girl came out healthy. I would take that risky operation so I can be cured. I hope I could really do this . I would pay anything for this good shot.

Comment by: Brandy
(Brooklyn,NY)
Fri., Jan. 27, 2012 at 1:50 pm UTC
This is really inspiring.He must be the luckiest man on earth. But I want to know can caucasions that are immune to HIV donate their stem cells to african-americans that have the virus?

Comment by: PETER BEN CEE
(DALLAS,TX)
Thu., Sep. 29, 2011 at 5:57 pm UTC
Delta32 CCR5 may have an undiscovered equivalent which future research need to disover. There are a lot of promiscuos African men and women who do not use condoms when having sex but who never get HIV. I have always been a firm believer of stem cell research. The world's hope of incurable diseases are more likely to be found in stem cell research and preventative techniques than in a lot of the unsucessful tentative surgeries.

Comment by: Jessie GALLARDO
(United States)
Thu., Sep. 29, 2011 at 2:35 pm UTC
that great news ,so many has suffer because of this dreadful disease i pray we keep up the good work and thanks to the doctor who was thinking outside the box.Creative thinking is the lord whispering

Comment by: Tic
(norst)
Fri., Sep. 23, 2011 at 11:57 am UTC
This is viral...Where did these stem cells come from?The Dr said very risky...If aids medicine cost so much I can't Imagine what that process would cost??? This cost times the millions who have aids would without doubt break the proverbial bank...You are playing Russian roulet 24/7...Eventually you loose...Sorry

Comment by: Alex
(DoesntMatter)
Tue., Sep. 20, 2011 at 7:04 pm UTC
To all of the people saying the US doesn't fund companies attempting to cure diseases- there are hundreds of publicly traded companies that WALL STREET, YES THE DEVILS ON WALL STREET, FUND. There are HEDGE FUNDS devoted to financing biotech and biopharm companies! Everyone loves to hate wall st which is understandable because there are some bad apples (just as there are in medicine and every other proffesion) but in the end profit incentives along with dedicated and passionate researchers within those companies are your best hope for bring a cure online. I know this because i am in finance. Usually I ignore the anti-corporate rhetoric and conspiracy theories but in stumbling upon this article and reading that people suffering from this disease have so much doubt and suspicion against the institutions that will inevitably produce a cure, I had to say something. Saying the US will never allow a cure because big corps would rather profit off the treatments is insane. Thats like saying eco friendly cars would of never been created so the US oil companies can profit from the ever decreasing supply of oil. Innovation and competition are the heart of finance. Every day biotech/biopharm companies release info regarding progress with drug A or drug B. Don't give up and remember there are people out there devoting their lives to medicine, and not just in the form of medical research.

Comment by: Anyony M
(Notin, Ca)
Mon., Sep. 12, 2011 at 2:24 pm UTC
I'd be interested to read more about the mental changes, that were briefly touched upon in the article. Mood? orientation? Temperament?
additionally- wouldn't we save tons of money if people practiced safe sex to prevent it and allow the disease to burn itself out?
I'm at a loss here- why take the risk of contracting a disease, then take life extending drugs to further the transmission of this disease?

Comment by: Lynn
(cincinnati)
Wed., Sep. 7, 2011 at 12:42 am UTC
What an amazing story! A cure for all suffering from HIV infection would bring needed hope. The idea that the Berlin man's tx was free is misleading. The money came from somewhere- taxes. I don't have the answers for health care access problems, but I know the USA has the private wealth available. Can changing the donor screening policies to include CCR5 mutation begin with the stem cell banks? Maybe each donor could be asked to pay the small cost to screen? You've lead me to reconsider myself as a marrow donor, I have the money for the potential cost. Are we willing to care for our brother? I don't believe socialized medicine will be the answer- compassion will be.

Comment by: Ken B
(Riverside, CA)
Tue., Sep. 6, 2011 at 11:03 am UTC
First, Great!
Second, He is not the first to be cured of aids
Third, Stem Cell research is coming along. Science has found other ways to create stem cells.

Comment by: Alice O
(Powell, Tn)
Fri., Aug. 19, 2011 at 2:00 am UTC
I wonder if multiple sclerosis turns the immune system on and aids shuts the immune system down,...What would happen if the two were present together? Would it just be a confusing mess?

Comment by: Kevin O.
(Minneapolis, MN)
Sat., Oct. 1, 2011 at 7:29 pm UTCWell I can tell you having AIDS and osteoporosis at the age of 38 hurts. I would imagine AIDS and MS would hurt worse. But, imagine having AIDS and no fashion sense. That would be horrible and no hope would be found!!!

Comment by: robert s.
(atlanta ga)
Tue., Aug. 16, 2011 at 8:18 pm UTC
yes modern scince has come long way thank good and i think they will find cure for aids and cancer thanks to stem cell transplant

Comment by: AJ
(seattle usa)
Tue., Aug. 9, 2011 at 1:39 am UTC
Sorry, not for a single second. There was no "first man cured of AIDS." He never had it, or.....he still has it. Science in this country is such a joke.

Comment by: LINO
(Ithaca)
Mon., Oct. 3, 2011 at 2:56 pm UTCToo bad you didn't read the interview. This science was conducted in Germany. This has been verified by scientists. You can read more throughout the Internet, though this is one of the best interviews.
Read this: http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1577949/
Or this: http://nymag.com/health/features/aids-cure-2011-6/
It's an exciting update but the implications are unclear.

Comment by: Nicole
(Palm Springs CA)
Sun., Mar. 11, 2012 at 12:44 pm UTCyes it was from Sept of 09, and here it is March of 2012 and I met the man last night. What a miracle, and what a smart doctor. He looks great and is still HIV negative to this day.....

Comment by: George
(NYC)
Mon., Jul. 18, 2011 at 9:07 am UTC
My friend is HIV+ for 10 years, has never taken a drug and is completely healthy. His T-cell count is increasing and his HIV markers are decreasing. Explain that. I think we have to question this constant peddling of drugs as the only option.

Comment by: Nicole
(Palm Springs CA)
Sun., Mar. 11, 2012 at 12:48 pm UTCThe explanation for that is the different strains of HIV out there. Some are more aggressive than others. Some you can detect right away, some you can't. Just like different cold viruses, some make you sick in bed for a week, others are just a simple cough and runny nose for a couple days. It is also dependent on your health throughout your life I believe. I know several people with HIV who do not take any meds and they are healthy active people....

Comment by: Moonboggler
(USA)
Sat., Jul. 16, 2011 at 7:27 am UTC
As long as stem cell research is a political issue in the USA, it's not going to advance in the USA, even if it cures HIV. Europe/Asia... it's up to you guys.

Comment by: Logan6
(Texas)
Fri., Jul. 15, 2011 at 2:53 pm UTC
Utter genius! Definitely a cure! If the virus can't infect T-cells, it will die without being able to reproduce. End of any aids infection.

Comment by: obsthetimes
(framingham, ma)
Tue., Jul. 12, 2011 at 4:48 pm UTC
So per the good doctor answering all the questions in this interview: Germany spends much less per person on health care than the US does, but has much better innovative health care outcomes? Where is all our money going?? Is their a friggin' sink hole in all the hospitals in the United States?

Comment by: kat
(wash,dc)
Sat., Jul. 9, 2011 at 12:07 am UTC
this is wonderful news. My mother has lupus and has taken parts is many studies with stem cells and has donated bone marrow to HIV/AIDS patiets (logic being lupus is the anti-AIDS disease). They have been working on curing AIDS with Lupus for a long time. My mom, after stem cell treatments now tests negaitive for Lupus on the genetic level.

Comment by: Christopher
(Ohio)
Tue., Jul. 5, 2011 at 10:18 am UTC
This is a shining example of why stem cell research and treatment is so vital. Yet the hypocritical RepubliCANTs in the U.S. block it every step of the way. They are against anything that would promote the progress of medicine and the easing of human suffering. Yet they are all for unfounded foreign wars that reap nothing but destruction, devastation, and human suffering. Hypocrite trash.

Comment by: odetta
(charlotte n.c)
Mon., Jul. 4, 2011 at 6:57 pm UTC
what a great inspiration this will have on others like him i just hope it is and can do what is being said about this new stem trial invention.i believe in nuclear medicine keep up the good research.

Comment by: Mark
(Baltimore, MD)
Mon., Jul. 4, 2011 at 5:36 am UTC
My idea was an anti virus virus. A self replicating non harmful virus that latched onto the HIV virus and killed it or mutated it into something harmless and then went dormant for the immune system to gobble up increasing resistance. Kinda like the attenuated live influenza virus only the immunological lab is encoded the antivirus virus. It does the work that a scientist would normally do by consuming the RNA/DNA of the HIV virus and then performing a knockout operation on it to weaken it. The antivirus virus propagates until all of the HIV virus is damaged and gone.

Comment by: Stephen
(Bronx,NY)
Sun., Jul. 3, 2011 at 9:41 pm UTC
This is great news! It is definitely a step in the right direction and demonstrates the advancement that scientists and researchers have made in their quest to find a cure for hiv/aids. Dr Huller has made a tremendous scientific break through that I'm sure will continue to make inroads into developing treatments and hopefully a cure for this fatal disease we have come to know as HIV/AIDS.

Comment by: jon
(salina, ks)
Sat., Jul. 2, 2011 at 5:33 pm UTC
God Bless you people and your efforts of research and "Thinking out of the Box!". Please, for all of the people from HIV, continue at all costs to find the cures for this and any other type of cancers. Thank You from the bottom of my heart and may God guide you to success in all of your endeavors.

Comment by: bill
(ny)
Fri., Jul. 1, 2011 at 11:25 am UTC
I'd like to know if everyone is being screened for the relevant gene deletion delta32 CCR5 mutation. These folks should be encouraged to donate blood for the generation of stem cells. Of course, the problem would be : will a desperate government imprison these people and use them as donors against their will? (Think Coma or The Immortal.

Comment by: Oisamoje, M. D.
(Alexandria, VA)
Sun., Jun. 12, 2011 at 2:11 am UTC
There is sure hope for getting a permanent solution to this monster called HIV/AIDS. The effort and risk taken by the Berlin doctor must be commended.

Comment by: danny
(linden,texas)
Mon., Jun. 6, 2011 at 12:54 pm UTC
It is too bad that here in America the politicians control what the doctors can do according to what their individual beliefs are rather than what is good for the whole. It is what is good for me so that I can get reelected so that I can rip the country off for a few more million each year that i stay in office.

Comment by: Jeremiah
(Phoenix)
Sat., Jun. 11, 2011 at 12:49 pm UTCor you can stop being so ignorant and see that everyone makes mistake... including your ignorant ass. not everyone who has aids messed around or did drugs. I got AIDS because someone was in a car wreck I went over to help stop the bleeding from his head. the man survived and I got AIDS. ignorant fools like you are the down fall of the world

Comment by: John
(Connecticut)
Sat., Jun. 11, 2011 at 12:51 pm UTCClaude, premarital sex does not cause AIDS, go do some research and find out for yourseld andit is not inflicted by drugs. have you thought that the people in Africa get it because their own government infected many people back in the 80's and 90's? well thats what happened in Africa, blew both of your theories out the window. open your eyes and your mind and you will be less of an ignorant fool

Comment by: Offthepink
(Idunno, here)
Sun., Aug. 21, 2011 at 2:19 pm UTCSays the guy who didn't know you're not supposed to MINGLE BLOOD AND FLUIDS WITH A STRANGER. Seriously, you couldn't just take off your shirt and wrap your hands with it?

Comment by: kathleen
(greensburg,pa)
Sat., Jun. 4, 2011 at 9:23 am UTC
I think it is great if they have a cure for hiv/aids. It is about time after what about 30 years. Some real religous people still say god created it to kill gays. What does the bible say love thy neighbor and don't judge unless you want to be judged the same way. That is how you throw the bible back in their faces. I am not real religous and I don't go to churchand yes I do believe in a woman having a right to choose about birth control, abortion, and the right to work or not. I think it is great that they have cured one man of aids and may have a cure for all people that have hiv/aids. To many people have died over the years from it and children being born with it and no one wants to addopt them because they are afraid that they might catch it. People need to understand that it is not the childs fault it is the person who gave birth to them's fault and that people are just afraid. That does not seem to make them feel better and they still feel like no one loves them. I usuall6y am tollerent of other people and I try not to judge uther people and culters or religons. If you really look at where jesus came from he was jewish not christain,cathloic,muslim,or any other religion but jewish. Jesus loved everyone the same and in the bible it says that god will make the judgement on people. And that is why you are not susposed to judge people. As I have learned most religous people are hiprocets and don't live by what the bible says and that is why I don't go to church.

Comment by: mike
(Santa Barbara,Ca.)
Sun., Aug. 7, 2011 at 9:57 pm UTCReally Kathleen? You totally negated your whole idea. I mean, it is ok to be righteous but you wont subscribe to the notion of what got you there? I see religious interpretation is what freedom is not adherence to to an actual belief.

Comment by: Henry V
(Salt Lake City, Utah USA)
Tue., May. 31, 2011 at 12:41 am UTC
What was unusual about the particular transplant done on this patient was the extra step taken when selecting the donor. Normally, when locating a potential donor for a person with or without HIV and leukemia, we would go through the worldwide registry of people who had agreed to donate stem cells or bone marrow.

There are about 13 million people who are on this computerized donor list now. The Berlin patient's physician went through the 13 million people and found 232 people who were identical tissue-type matches for this patient. Any one of those 232, if they agreed to come in and donate their stem cells, presumably would have been an excellent match for this patient. But with the patient's approval, the doctor went a step further.
HOW DOES SOMEONE GO ABOUT GETTING ON THE DONOR'S LIST?? WILLING TO HELP--> YES

Comment by: Kevin
(Midwest USA)
Sun., Jul. 17, 2011 at 12:48 am UTCProbably so. Most of us are on a huge number of drugs that are new. I now have pancreas damage from some drug I took in the 90's. I doubt that anti-rejection drugs are as harmful to the rest of your body.

Comment by: James D
(Las Vegas)
Sun., May. 29, 2011 at 6:48 pm UTC
If it hadn't been for George "Dumbya" Bush and his vetoing of stem cell research, America could very well have claimed this particular honor. Ignorance is the hardest thing in the world to fight.

Comment by: Joe blow
(off the street)
Thu., Jun. 2, 2011 at 8:32 pm UTC You should keep your political opinions to yourself. This is a Medical journal.

Comment by: Catfish
(Anywhere, USA)
Fri., Jul. 1, 2011 at 10:18 am UTCONLY embryonic stem cell research is limited.
Adult stem cell research is at full throttle, and there have been many advancements made with this research. There have been very few made with embryonic, and actually some failures reminiscent of horror/scifi movies. Remember that embryonic stem cells can turn into ANY cell, so you could get a mutant growing out of you.

Comment by: Scandinavian American
(New York, NY)
Sat., May. 28, 2011 at 12:35 am UTC
I did not hear this as a podcast. I read this as a text article from a sponsored link in the New York Times. Fascinating. Hopeful. As a Scandanavian American who is already listed in the bone marrow registry, I would love if all the samples were tested for the genetic variation. Maybe Amfar could do a call for (1) Scandanavian Americans to give blood for the bone marrow registry and pay the extra amount for that extra test. (2) Ask Scandanavian Americans already in the bone marrow registry to donate $ to cover the cost of that test on our own blood so we might be able to help this way.

Comment by: Josh C.
(CCTX)
Sat., Jul. 9, 2011 at 11:46 am UTCNot if the major news organizations, who are owned by republicans, can help it. they dont want to find cures, the want to make medicine to treat the symptoms.

Comment by: mark
(new britain, ct)
Sun., May. 22, 2011 at 8:20 am UTC
And yet it is wrong and against the constitution of the united states to fund stem cell research, because supposedly the "stem cell" is considered to be "human life" and during studies it may get destroyed, hence the government does not want to fund the "destruction of life" huh? if a stem cell is a human life then so is blood, semen and so on and you don't see a fuss about it when blood or sperm bank supplies expire and they have to discard them. COME ON, THIS RESEARCH WILL SAVE LIVES, HOW SICK! OF COURSE IT IS NOT PROFITABLE TO CURE PEOPLE, ONLY TO "TREAT" THEM FOREVER. IT'S A SHAME WHAT GREED LEADS TO.

Comment by: Nicole
(Philadelphia, PA)
Sat., May. 28, 2011 at 9:43 am UTCIf you read the article, it states that this man was cured through the use of ADULT stem cells, not embryonic stem cells - big difference. Adult stem cells do not require the destruction of a human embryo (as they are taken from a living, adult human. To get an embryonic stem cell, a human embryo must be destroyed, hence the destruction of life) and, thus far, adult stem cells continue to show the most promise for curing different diseases. Sadly, adult stem cell research is underfunded due to a bias in government funding (most funding is directed at embryonic, which has shown very little, if any, promise). Adult stem cell research continues to show promise and deliver results, and it is not "unconstitutional." There is a lot of information on adult stem cell research online - from why scientists think it works, to recent medical and scientific breakthroughs.

Comment by: AnonymousFri., May. 20, 2011 at 9:32 pm UTC
you know anything is possible;cures are being founded everyday for some kind of illness so why not aids;i believe in miracleseven supernatural ones..

Comment by: Sam
(Austin, TX)
Fri., May. 13, 2011 at 5:51 pm UTCThe what we Republicans discourage is embryonic stem cell use, big difference. I do know of people who are against all transplants and organ donations but those people are not Mainstream Republicans.

Comment by: CPollardRN
(Kingsport TN)
Wed., May. 11, 2011 at 5:18 pm UTC
But, NO! I indeed did meet a black man with blue eyes, that, as a Paramedic had been exposed to HIV, had carried it,unknowing, to his wife. She died, and too quickly. I met this man while attending to his child at a summer camp. He had been very honest and up front re his child's HIV status. She would have such High fevers, I would almost throw her into the shower, and as camp nurse, I gave her Ibuprofen, knowing I could NOT take responsibility for cooking her brain. Oh, how much I knew, she fit the "window" of time HIV entered the US. The IDIOT MD covering the camp (@ the time) CHASTISED me for giving her the Ibuprofen without HIS order. (Time was of essence)
Any way, it was not lost on me that she could fight it, she was 10 years old! (HIV PEOPLE didn't live so long in 2005-2006) I knew there was "something" going on!
This man was indeed "black", African/American, now with the blue eyes, yes may-be, a mix.
OH!... how much hope! WE NEED TO CONTACT and DO SOMETHING! How many people can be saved? What can we do? How much NEEDs to be shared and revealed? I wish I could remember his name.... from Miami FL....

Comment by: scir91onYouTube
(Brooklyn, New York)
Tue., May. 10, 2011 at 2:43 pm UTC
just incredible news! for curing this disease, it seems to be, every year, a small step at a time, a journey of a thousand miles

Comment by: s. dragon
(formerly sf, now northern calif)
Sun., May. 8, 2011 at 4:37 pm UTC
sorry, it's out of sequence, but my browser would not do a reply, just a new post.
REPLY TO NAMENE

amen and hallelujah to that, namene! and the funds to keep doing it as well. and blessings to the donors along with the doctors, scientists, and patients, and their loved ones who stand by them. don't forget those. and may those beings researched on have divine protection from pain, no matter what species they are. that's important.

Comment by: s. dragon
(formerly sf, now northern calif)
Sun., May. 8, 2011 at 4:20 pm UTC
good luck and god bless. thank you for the story.
may god replicate that doctor a thousand fold!
and may the democrats get the laws changed here in enough time.

Comment by: Razi
(Omaha, NE)
Tue., May. 3, 2011 at 3:01 pm UTC
very well written article on the Berlin patient for even a lay person to understand. Thank you.

I would be interested in finding out if I am CCR5 positive (since I am HIV negative). If so, I would be willing to participate in research including donating stem cells. How would I go about gettng a CCR5 test?

Comment by: Donny
(Chicago)
Tue., May. 3, 2011 at 2:53 pm UTC
There will not be a cure for many major diseases including HIV/AIDS because of the FDA adds way to much red tape and regulations. There is no profit reward to bring a medicine to market that cures AIDS.

Comment by: Ally
(South Carolina)
Fri., Apr. 29, 2011 at 10:06 pm UTCIn case you didn't know, there's no 100% prevention as far as engaging in sex. Condoms don't prevent the transmission 100%, taking the medicine doesn't prevent transmission 100%, and sex isn't the only way its transmitted. So where is the easy prevention??

Comment by: Razi
(Omaha, NE)
Tue., May. 3, 2011 at 3:07 pm UTCHow would someone prevent becoming infected if someone with AIDS raped them? There are 100's of registered sex offenders that are infected. Think about it. Moreover; what if your partner cheated on you and contracted the disease and then gave it to you?

Comment by: SarahW
(Southern California)
Sat., May. 21, 2011 at 9:31 pm UTCYou are right. Your question is simple. Let's use our brains and hearts.
I would guess that you are in a monogamous relationship? Even then you can not be sure that you will never be a victim of rape or infidelity. Do you plan on wearing condoms with your husband every time you have sex? Even then you will not be 100% protected, especially as a heterosexual woman.
HIV is most often sexually transmitted. Unless you are celibate, you are at risk. Most of us are not celibate.
Also, you are disregarding, and probably not on purpose, all of the wonderful men and women around the world who are living with HIV and AIDS as well as the people who love them. We have a responsibility to help these people if we can.
AIDS is a horrible, horrible disease that eliminates your bodies natural defenses so that you are a sitting duck for all types of illnesses. We need to do all we can to wipe it off the face of the earth for future generations.

Comment by: AnonymousSun., Apr. 24, 2011 at 2:35 pm UTC
thats truly a miracle to be successfully cured of Hiv if its true

Comment by: Dave
(Charlotte, NC)
Sat., Apr. 9, 2011 at 6:56 pm UTC
In response to the poll, I do believe a cure for AIDS will eventually be found. According to this article, maybe it already has. The sad fact of the matter is, though, only wealthy and heavily insured people will be able to benefit from it while the poor die.

Comment by: nami
(new york)
Tue., Apr. 5, 2011 at 9:02 pm UTC
can aids turn back to be hiv is vital loads are untectable and t-cells count are 320. also can full blown aids patient get a stem cells tranplant or terapy.

Comment by: Judy W.
(Raleigh, NC)
Tue., Apr. 5, 2011 at 1:51 pm UTC
I saw something on Discovery Health a while ago that was discussing surviving the plague. It was about people who were surrounded by people dying of the plague but did not succumb. There was a hemophiliac who had continued to receive the treatment knowing he could be infected with HIV. He did not become infected. They did genetic tests on him and people from a village in England and found a mutation. They were super-immune. It had something to do with receptors in cells that viruses attack. These receptors would not let anything in. They used this and made some drug and tested it on a man with AIDS. His T-cells bounced back to normal. He had no sign of the illness. I think the show was called Surviving The Plague. I've seen this show twice.

Comment by: Jack B.
(Hollywood, CA)
Sat., Jul. 9, 2011 at 11:47 am UTCYou are a liar. I watched the same show while on tour and it didn't talk about a cure in any form. You should 'pick' a better topic to BS about because this isn't it.

Comment by: Kitty
(California)
Sat., Apr. 2, 2011 at 4:16 pm UTC
I think its amazing that they *knew* something like this might work... but that they pointedly stated this would NEVER have happened in the USA. Our obsession with for profit medicine and health insurance as replacement for health CARE will be the death of so many people.

Comment by: Ispy
(East Coast)
Wed., Mar. 30, 2011 at 12:42 pm UTC
Just wondering is it possible that injecting delta32 CCR5 into a healthy lab rat and then infecting the rat with HIV can prove if delta32 CCR5 is the anecdote?

Comment by: Christine
(Seattle, WA)
Thu., Mar. 31, 2011 at 5:17 pm UTCdelta32 CCR5 is a version of a cell-surface protein that the virus uses to infect cells. As it said in the interview, having only some of your CCR5 receptors be the delta32 mutant isn't enough - the virus can still invade through the normal copies. So injecting some free-floating CCR5 wouldn't really do the trick (not cell-associated, there's still normal CCR5 around).

And in any case, the only good animal model for HIV infection is non-human primates. It's only recently that a mouse model has been developed, and it's a pretty sick little animal (no immune system, has T-cells transplanted from a human T-cell line). Personally, I don't much trust the results with the mouse model yet, though I may yet be convinced that it's a good system.

Comment by: Miss Anthrope
(St. Louis)
Tue., Mar. 29, 2011 at 5:43 pm UTC
Really? I thought Magic Johnson was the first man cured of HIV! I don't even think he has a stem cell transplant!

Comment by: Pat T.
(Hesperia, CA)
Tue., Mar. 29, 2011 at 10:29 am UTC
I believe this is just the beginning of finding a cure for AIDS. Keep the research going; the Cure is out there--the door is open, go through it.

Comment by: Mary Ellen M.
(Fort Kent, ME)
Tue., Mar. 29, 2011 at 8:48 am UTC
I know of one person given a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a different blood type. Since the person is made into an empty vessl so to speak, does it really matter what the blood type is of the donor?v Or are life time medical problems associated with this type of mis-match?

Comment by: Christine
(Seattle, WA)
Thu., Mar. 31, 2011 at 5:22 pm UTCI don't know much about blood-type matching with bone marrow transplants (not my field). As long as the donor's cells won't attack the recipient's blood cells, it should be OK. (Marrow from an AB+ patient is unlikely to have responses to other patients, but marrow from an O- patient might attack blood of other types).

The blood type isn't the only cell surface antigen that a patient has, however. There are six that need to be matched as closely as possible, and the problem is that all the cell surface molecules on the rest of the body are still the same, even if there's no bone marrow or immune cells. If you transplant mismatched marrow cells at this point, they will attack everything that's different from them (i.e. the entire host). This is known as a "graft versus host" response and is a very very ugly way to die.

It would be awesome if we had a way to reprogram the immune response of the new cells so that this wasn't an issue, but I don't even know where you'd start to make this happen.

Comment by: Razi
(Omaha, NE)
Tue., May. 3, 2011 at 3:14 pm UTCYeah, and imagine how many more stem cells we would have to use if they didn't throw them away. Having a use for the aborted fetus does not incresae the likelyhood that someone would have an abortion - so why would we not want to use them? The moritorium on not using those stem cells does not help anyone and should be eliminated.

Comment by: AnonymousSun., Feb. 27, 2011 at 4:35 pm UTC
i think the dates need to be checked in this article... he had transplants done in 2007, so how it found that he was cured in 2006??

Comment by: Preez
(Indonesia)
Fri., Feb. 25, 2011 at 1:12 am UTC
This is unbelievable....yet believable...
I really hope there is a new way of curing HIV...
If stem cell transplant can cure the patient, then maybe it has an answer for HIV treatment...removing it permanently from the Body....

Comment by: Peyton G
(Newnan)
Fri., Jan. 21, 2011 at 10:30 am UTC
I think this is very instuting i am in 11th grade and doing a project on this. This is the first time i'm hearing about this. Also, why don't people spead the word cause i know some of my cousins have it and he is on his death bed. I don't want to lose him. Spead the word. ASAP

The reason that this isn't being done more widely is that the cure is really really dangerous, not to mention expensive. It's very hard to find a donor with the right tissue type and the CCR5 deletion; even if you do, about 1 in 5 people who get a bone marrow transplant will die from complications related to the transplant within the first three months. Many people who do survive the treatment still have a lot of very nasty side effects during that time period. I imagine that if somebody is very sick from HIV already, the bone marrow transplant would be even more likely to kill them or cause bad long-term effects.

There will definitely be more research going on in this area, I'm sure. But for now, this only makes sense for those people who will die very soon without a bone marrow transplant - it's a really terrible procedure to go through.

Comment by: Lesley M.
(Bangor, Northern Ireland)
Fri., Dec. 31, 2010 at 5:14 am UTC
I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here, but if such a stem cell treatment effectively resets a patient with a new immune system could it also be used to treat autoimmune diseases like MS or quick onset diabetes (which I always thought was auto immune). If it is the case a lot of those could be treated with the patient's own stem cells which might be less potentially risky. But that would increase the use of the treatment and help refine it and make it cheeper long term for the HIV application as well. Yes you would need all your vaccinations all over again, but hey, no MS...
(not a medical Dr so I could be totally wrong....)

Comment by: Razi
(Omaha, NE)
Tue., May. 3, 2011 at 3:20 pm UTCBecause this is based on the fact that a person with the CCR5 mutation is resistant to HIV which is a virus. Other viruses can enter the cell through other means, and some of the disesaes you are talking about are not even caused by viruses so this therapy would not work in those cases... also, as several have pointed out, this therapy has a high mortality rate.

Comment by: Riverlassie
(New Jersey)
Tue., Dec. 28, 2010 at 1:44 pm UTC
My hubby is part of a study group out of Boston Mass. and I'm thrilled to hear of this great breakthrough. We've both been pos for over 20 years and hes never had to take a med ever for his hiv status. We even had him retested once to be sure he actually was positive. Now I look for the day when we will just try it on people that are willing. After all we are all being experiminted on with the meds anyway. I'll tske my hubby's blood any day of the week. I know it's not THAT simple , but this is an amazing breakthrough for everyone pos or not.

Comment by: river
(Toms River, New Jersey)
Tue., Dec. 28, 2010 at 1:32 pm UTC
My hubby has been a part of the testing for over 2 years now, he too is a long term non-progressor. And to hear of this amazing breakthrough is fantastic ! Perhaps a day will come when there will be a trial of using anothers blood stem cells even without having lukemia. This is the opening of new beginnings.
Hubby and I have been positive for over 20 years. I have been on meds for 16 and he has never had to be on any. I thank God every day that he is healthy as a horse and that any aches are just from getting old. lol

Comment by: Jay
(Baltimore, MD)
Fri., Dec. 17, 2010 at 2:25 am UTC
I am a bit confused by this whole scientific interview. Basically, is Dr. Lawrence saying the delta32 and ccr5 cannot be found in african americans and if so does that mean this process would never work for them?

Comment by: KB
(Hampton VA)
Tue., Mar. 29, 2011 at 8:06 am UTCNo, it just means they cannot be the stem cell donors. Tissue type also vary with ethnicity so it may be more difficult to find donors for them but there are so many racially mixed people in the world that somewhere is a suitable donor.

Comment by: mario
(florida)
Wed., Dec. 15, 2010 at 2:29 pm UTC
Why don't they replicate/clone the genes that show the rare mutation with the built up immunity towards HIV rather than say, "it's 1 in a million that a donor has this this mutation"...

Comment by: Lyton
(UK)
Tue., Dec. 14, 2010 at 3:38 pm UTC
Credit goes to the Doctors who not only think hard but also work tirelessly to make a positive impact on the lives of our brothers and sisters who may be with AIDS.
This is a typical example of how the Doctor worked his head out to create the best results possible.
On the other hand Luekemia played a very vital role in having all these options that made a positive impact on the patient. To the donors thanks to you all, keep up the human spirit.

Comment by: heather
(Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Wed., Sep. 8, 2010 at 1:12 am UTC
I sincerely empathize with people who are hiv positive or have AIDs however, torturing other species of animals who have the capacity to think, feel and suffer is evil. People who are themselves suffering should be the first people to have compassion for other sentient beings. Why do human beings think they have a right to make other creatures' lives a heinous nightmare in order to try and alleviate their own suffering? not to mention that there are much more effective ways of finding cures for human diseases than through the infection of intelligent creatures like monkeys with these diseases and then torturing them in order to try and eradicate these diseases. There is no one who would like to see hiv/AIDs become as historical as the black death more than I would but a cure would probably be found faster if resources were not wasted on torturing other living creatures. In any case, if I had a choice between dying from AIDs related complications or being treated through means that caused another creature to suffer I would rather suffer and die myself. This might sound easy for someone who is not dying from this disease to say but it is the absolute truth. We are all dying and if I could become immortal through a means that caused a monkey, dog or any sentient living creature to be tortured I would rather remain mortal.

Comment by: Razi
(Omaha, NE)
Tue., May. 3, 2011 at 3:26 pm UTCYes, but instead of having to unscrew the plug to drain the oil; they are talking about using kemo and radiation to kill off your bone marrow before giving you new stem cells to replace the bone marrow. Double dangerous because you make the patient really sick to make the person ready to accept new - and their body can still have a reaction to the new cells.

It isn't a "simple" matter of draining blood and replaceing it with non-infected (because the new blood would become infected by the body itself).

Comment by: ChoppersRule
(Long Beach, Ca)
Thu., Jun. 24, 2010 at 9:10 pm UTC
I have been HIV pos for almost 10 years. While I am grateful to have it managed, and I live a productive life, it keeps me from doing so many things I want to do because I am tied to medication concerns. I think anyone who is willing to take the risk of this treatment should have it available. I don't know what is worse, the thought always in the back of my mind that my time will run out, or I end up in a total state of dementia. I would risk my life for a shot at being free from this curse. It is my body after all.

Comment by: Reginald Todd Hewitt
(Orlando, Florida)
Fri., Jun. 11, 2010 at 6:54 pm UTC
My personal quest to raise Worldwide Awareness of PML, began as a result of my daughter Courtney's death. She was mis-diagnosed and battled with PML until it finally claimed her short life at the age of 31, leaving behind four small children. Writing and sharing Courtney's story has been very cathartic for me.
Have you or someone you know, ever had the Chickenpox?
Do you or someone you know and love, have a compromised or weakened immune system?
www.daytimediva77.com
Since I have shared her story with so many wonderful readers around the world, the response has been overwhelming.
Should you have the opportunity to read her amazing story, please help raise awareness by sharing it with your family and friends and your thoughts, with me!

Comment by: Sinatra Perryman
(Mississippi)
Wed., Jun. 2, 2010 at 11:05 pm UTC
Mississippi needs a cure, prevention, education, and many more, when it comes to HIV/AIDS. Mississippi is fighting a losing battle against HIV/AIDS and it's all because of lack of education.

Comment by: Javi
(Chandler)
Fri., Mar. 26, 2010 at 7:07 am UTC
Getting tested early as possible is the best way to keep yor health as good as possible. You know HIV is a very hard thing to deal with if your infected. You can't have kids in the future. And what is the point of life when you can't reproduce. Carry on your ancestors name. That is what we are all meant for... Would you rather live forever or reproduce and then die. Live forever and reproduce... so watch yourself.. Life is priceless homie!! Were the smartest mammals on the planet. act like it!! Dude you don't want to wait! Always have guts and go with them!!!

Comment by: AnonymousTue., Dec. 14, 2010 at 10:38 pm UTCGod??? I guess you could say that if all the guy did was pray, but I feel like the success of this story can be attributed to the doctor that came up with the brilliant idea. Science gets bashed when it fails, and then when it finally helps people, everyone claims it was God.

Please visit www.daytimediva77.com to learn how you can all do more to raise awareness of PML and the JC Virus, a virus that lies dormant in 85 to 90% of our World's population!This site is not just for people living with HIV, it's for every man,woman and child!

Comment by: plato2020
(Austin, tx)
Wed., Jan. 13, 2010 at 9:34 pm UTC
This is the time when scientists and gov need to press the accelerator to the metal while trying to find some therapeutic vaccine or nanotechnology vector that will enable people to take the burden off haart for weeks or even months. Because when the virus becomes resistant to the even the latest drugs, then we'll go back to the 80's era where people wait and die of AIDS without alternatives or hope. We are seeing that people with HIV are becoming resistant to the drugs in Africa 30% in Europe 15% and in the USA 20% We need to come up with something ASAP and not sit around and think that with the potents drugs we have now will save us from getting aids or dying from non-related aids cancers. This is a crucial moment and we cannot let down our guard.

Comment by: World Unity
(Long Beach, CA)
Wed., Jan. 13, 2010 at 2:03 am UTC
Lets all work for a cure, donate whatever we can afford to donate. This cure will be made by our hands, we need a leader to step up and go around the world raising funds to help these scientists and researchers.

Everyone of us whether poz or neg need to stand up and work for a cure.

Comment by: andre
(durham nc)
Tue., Jan. 12, 2010 at 1:58 pm UTC
it is long over due and enough money and time have been wasted not to mention the lives lost its time for a change
we must pick up the tourch and carry on where are brothers left off if not for them we wouldnt have gotten this far dont give up the fight press on

Comment by: DUKE
(TEXAS)
Mon., Dec. 21, 2009 at 6:54 pm UTC
LET,S DO WHAT JEFFREY LAURENCE.M.D. DID AND STOP THIS HIV/AIDS THE PHARMACEUTICALS COMPANIES MAKES BIG MONEY OFF THE DIEING IT;S NOT RIGHT IT;S GET IT ON GET THE FOUND FROM OUR GOVERMENT BECAUSE WE THE PEOPLE ARE USA GOVERMENT SO LET,SBACK JL.M.D. WORK NOW SO CAN STOP KILLING PEOPLE FOR THE PHARMACEUTICALS COMPANIES GOVERMENT TO MAKE MOOR MONEY OF THE DIEING IT,SNOT RIGHT WE ARE THE GOVERMENT OF,VE THE USA

Comment by: Mokgawa
(South Africa )
Thu., Dec. 17, 2009 at 5:59 am UTC
This is very amazing and interesting research. lets keep our head high for the real cure in a near future. Let's keep people infected alive. this research give the world hope for the HVI AIDS breakthrough. E tswareng bjalo.

Comment by: Damian
(South Africa)
Thu., Dec. 16, 2010 at 3:58 pm UTCGod will lead us nowhere, my friend, because there is no such thing as the supernatural.

But what WILL lead us there is the sheer hard work of dedicated medical men and women.

Comment by: KB
(Hampton VA)
Tue., Mar. 29, 2011 at 8:12 am UTCDamian, you can't prove there is no such thing as the supernatural. You believe that only on faith.

Comment by: andre howard dremaxton@yahoo.com
(Durham North Carloina)
Wed., Dec. 9, 2009 at 4:47 pm UTC
would some one email me with more infor on this subject I would like to follow it more closely this is not the first person that I ve heard of But this one seems to be the one that isgetting the print inthe news and on the web thanks

Comment by: HermesAlchemist
(SF, CA)
Tue., Dec. 8, 2009 at 6:33 pm UTC
a wonderful thing, if true and repeatable. let's hope that it is repeatable and that it is kept far away from those would like to profit from it, lest it become unattainable or unavailable.
Cynical I know, but still a melancholy optimist, me.

Comment by: Lance
(L.A. CA)
Tue., Dec. 8, 2009 at 5:03 pm UTC
I converted in 2001. Immediately went on meds, reduced VL to UD and T's remained over 700. 3 years ago, with UD and T's at 1100 I went off meds, It's been 3 years, and VL is still UD, and T's are in the 700 range. My doctor says it's pretty amazing. If I would be a useful research subject, email me at LanceCoach@aol.com.

Comment by: Rai
(Augusta, GA)
Sun., Dec. 6, 2009 at 11:18 pm UTC
I love this website for just this reason. I found great information on here and has been such a great source for me since discovering my status in Sept of this year. I have been very lucky so far... My first CD4 count was 47 and could not take Bactrim or Mepron due to allergic reactions. But after only 3 weeks on Atripla my CD4 came back at 127. Was an amazing jump and I can't wait for 6 more weeks before we check it again.

Comment by: Joe
(Philadelphia )
Sat., Dec. 5, 2009 at 3:11 am UTC
I will circut this info. to the medical staff in philadelphia also to the media and to Washington on the behalf of every one effected with H.I.V.. now they will know that alot of people around america is on to this probably something can be developed or stem cell transplantation can assist to cure those who have it wish me luck.

Comment by: Devaraju S
(Bangalore)
Fri., Dec. 4, 2009 at 5:47 am UTC
The results are amazing and encourazing for the research in field of HIV. More experiments and randamised trials will be beneficial.

Comment by: schmed
(toronto canada)
Thu., Dec. 3, 2009 at 4:42 pm UTC
ok im happy for the person that has been cured, as for costs of testing for ccr5 repeating the same thing for other candidates.. ie trying this cure for others. wouldnt it be cheaper to do this than 20+ years of medicines in the long run to really judge the affect on the species..ie us. ya ok big pharma makes loads of coin from treating the disease but dont tell me they wouldnt make loads of coin from a cure weather it is pill or other and this isnt the only disease they have makeing them money ..when is the bank account full enouph for them to say ok lets really just do this and cure this thing... test all the herbs and plants of the earth... who knows maybe you have the cure in some flower ya have sitting on yer table and we dont know it ... the cure is out there put our world on hold and look after the needs of everyone everywhere weather it be food or medicine or shelter etc its 2009 almost 2010 and there are people still starving on the streets even in the richest communities even though we throw away food to feed all of them work with the people not with the system wake up this is survival of the species all species drop the blame game stop the stygma be real for a change tired of everyone looking after #1 with no concern for the rest arent you????? we all want the same thing a heaven on earth and we can have it ... just make it happen ...peace

Comment by: jojes
(kenya)
Thu., Dec. 3, 2009 at 10:39 am UTC
these is so encouraging,but at least even if there could be light at the end of the tunnel,please may GOD grant whoever are concerned the mercy to prioritize the so called 3rd world countries that are really devastated with the scourge because of their economical positions and governmental leaderships that are corrupt to an extent of politicizing on the it.

It was a pleasent suprise when i read the interview. There is hope. I hope this finding would aid people all around the world suffering from HIV/AIDS, especially innocent children who has to pay for their parents'wrong-doings. May God bless these researchers and give them the wisdom to combat this malady. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Comment by: Riverlassie
(New Jersey )
Tue., Dec. 28, 2010 at 1:49 pm UTCLydia, Aids was not spread ONLY by parents, "WRONG DOINGS". Unless you include the goverment that gave tainted medicine to the hemopholliacs. (excuse the spelling). What matters is finding a cure , not finding who's fault it is.

Comment by: abie
(nyc)
Mon., Nov. 30, 2009 at 11:18 am UTC
Hi UKguy...the problem with that logic is the thinking behind it. You are imagining that there is some centralized system stopping research around the world. Researchers can research a lot of things and there are many non-pharmaceutical research organizations (both in the U.S. and Europe and Canada and Australia) supported by government. There have been cures of things!! Some cancers can be cured when years ago everyone died. In the same vein, if it were easy to cure diabetes, it would be cured. Pharma is not that powerful! Also the real motive for a cure for people who are researchers is the man or woman who finds a cure will make history and there name will be remembered. That's an amazing incentive. Lots of people are motivated by that. So you are wrong. These things are harder then you think to cure. ALso the history of HIV medicine is amazing. since this virus was discovered in 1981 or so, it's gone from a fatal disease to a manageble one! You cannot say that about lung cancer which has been around way longer, or many other cancers!

Comment by: UK Guy
(East Anglia)
Thu., Nov. 26, 2009 at 4:17 pm UTC
Pardon me for being cynical, but if a cure for diabetes has not manifested for decades, but there is good business for treating it; why think that a cure for HIV and AIDS is going to happen - why would the pharmaceutical industry go for a cure, when they can make a continual income just treating it - regardless of the cost to human life. You should all watch a film called Lorenzo's Oil if you think what I am saying is "misguided".

However hope is priceless, and I hope that the right decesions will be made, and the lives of many not overlooked in the name of greed.

It may be said that a cure for HIV/AIDS is the Gold standard pharmaceutical industries are looking for; but maybe their ultimae Gold standard is to have really effective treatments that never cure? I pray to God I am wrong.

Comment by: comfy
(phoenix)
Thu., Nov. 26, 2009 at 6:48 am UTC
We are still hopeful cos anything is possible. We believe a cure will soon be out and mankind will be saved. I just wish government agencies and NGO's could pump in more money into finding this cure asap. Please don't give up doctor, you can break world record with this. Keep up the good work. We need this hope

Comment by: Michelle
(Shreveport)
Sun., Nov. 22, 2009 at 3:17 am UTC
Hiv dies when exposed to air on non sharp surfaces , but survives in closed air, inside of needle syringes.When using a syringe and the outside needle was shared or used by an infected person/anyone,and the needle is pierced into skin.An air hole in skin causes infected blood to enter and cause hiv infection.When hiv is undetectable while on meds, undetectable cells increases as hiv weakens and t cells grow higher and stronger.Then the stem cells can kill the weakened hiv in cells. The air that exists inside of the open needle syringe,combines with the stem cell as it uses the air to strenghten itself. it breaths in that built in oxygen .a stem cell that kills hiv is inserted into an undetectable hiv cell ,as the stem cell combines with undetectable hiv cell,it kills the hiv.Then becomes a hiv negative cell.This cell then begins to make repeat dublication of itself,forming new healthy cells that continue to kill the hiv. The person than becomes hiv/aids negative or disease free.Is this true?

Comment by: iyk-pharm
(Nigeria)
Sat., Nov. 21, 2009 at 3:56 pm UTC
...always i have thoughts of developing a drug(key) to bring an end to this lock. There is hope for the world; i know I will contribute!
To Dr Hutter, i am asking God almighty to bless and inspire you the more, amen.

Comment by: Piko
(South africa, mthatha ,ncambedlana)
Sat., Nov. 21, 2009 at 2:06 am UTC
i think finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. I hope this is the beginning of the end of this horrible disease. plz guys don't give up.

Comment by: Mimi Mda
(Umthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa)
Thu., Nov. 19, 2009 at 11:34 am UTC
If there are people who have cells that are resistant to this monster, then there is hope. I urge scientists to please stop preaching carefull living and ARVs. If you cloud see how many people get sick, die and who are not informed about this. The deep rural Transkei, where I come from, there are people who do not even know sanitary pads, let alone condoms, live their lives normally and they DO NOT know the first thing about hiv/aids, how do you begin to educate them about safe sex and hiv drugs. The drugs we get here are simply dangerous to their bodies because first of all, they cannot afford to buy healthy food. FInd a cure, I have faith that you will and soon. Scientists have managed to create human clones, you must and you have to stop the world from destruction. My heart breaks at the thought that our species is being destroyed by this monster. DO SOMETHING SOON!! Mimi Mda.

Comment by: Ms
(south africa)
Tue., Nov. 17, 2009 at 3:46 pm UTC
I pray each day 4 a cure or even if it is just treatment that can keep us alive like other people without the virus with no complications

Comment by: Sam
(TX)
Tue., Nov. 17, 2009 at 2:37 am UTC
This is encouraging, I pray for the day that this virus will be killed off, I pray for healing for all. God is a healer and I want to pass a message of strength and vitality, peace of mind and an ABUNDANT life! GOD BLESS!

Comment by: Dr. Otilia Gowelle
(Tanzania)
Mon., Nov. 16, 2009 at 5:26 am UTC
These are important developments in science and need further follow-up and documentation of all outcomes, especially to this patient.

Comment by: JenniferFri., Dec. 17, 2010 at 10:14 pm UTCDon't lose hope. Don't give in to this illness. There is still hope.

Comment by: Br Benjamin Kamala
(tanzania)
Sat., Nov. 14, 2009 at 2:28 am UTC
thanx to researchers. more effort need to be done and folow up of this patient for sometime. It could be a good start for treatment of the virus

Comment by: Damian
(South Africa)
Thu., Dec. 16, 2010 at 4:01 pm UTCGod will give no wisdom to anyone, because there is no God, nor any gods or spirits or pink unicorns!

If a cure is found it will be because of sheer hard work on the parts of medical men and women.

Comment by: R M mwanjela
(Dar es Salaam-Tanzania)
Fri., Nov. 13, 2009 at 4:39 am UTC
This client needs a longer follow up and a wide scope of HIV testing before we firmly say he has been cured of HIV.How is his leukaemia doing by the way.

Comment by: J.G.Fri., Dec. 17, 2010 at 10:19 pm UTCWhy is everyone so quick to question? To berate the scientists? Thank you! Thank you for your long hours in the lab, and please...do NOT give up on us.

Comment by: blue
(philippines)
Wed., Nov. 11, 2009 at 2:40 am UTC
god changes my life when i found out i'm hiv + so much fear but god has a purpose for everynthing. hope this illness will be cured soon

Comment by: PAUL K
(NAROBI KENYA)
Tue., Nov. 10, 2009 at 5:51 am UTC
As a person living with HIV/AIDS, I BELIEVE THIS IS very good news for me for I hope in near future I will stand and say I am cured too.

Comment by: Danzel
(LA, California)
Fri., Nov. 6, 2009 at 7:14 pm UTC
It seems ironic that everything that Scientest/Doctors do involves a huge profit. When they know that their are going to benifit more in a addition to what has been donated already, then they are able to announce the cures or what ever they discover. The majority of people who have HIV are poor and can't afford the cost for a cure that is probably already there. This is an investment for pharmaceutical companies...its all about money! It seems that whenever something is discovered, only a little information gets released (a step forward they claim). Why? So that they make money bits by bits. The next step you will hear is: "An advanced fomular of what was previously discovered" Meanwhile that was already there. Its rare that someone would just give up the whole discovery at once because then there wont be more patients to make money off unless they creat another desease that is "uncurerable", i dont know who they will blame this time since the animal theory has already been used.

Comment by: AnonymousFri., Dec. 17, 2010 at 10:12 pm UTCI pray for you, and all the positive children, and mothers that there is a cure in site. Hope is so crucial with this disease. Never lose hope.

Comment by: Judith
(kampala- uganda)
Thu., Nov. 5, 2009 at 7:40 am UTC
thanks. how is delta32ccr5 mutation connected to the HIV? How can some connect the two? And do u think the drugs, which were given to the patient to kill all cells could be cure? like radiation therapy to his whole body. He was given two immunosuppressive drugs. He was given a serum prepared in a rabbit immunized with human T cells -- like kind of an antibody to kill off a person's T cells. He was also given a multitude of drugs that cannot only kill leukemia cells, but can also kill immune cells. so to my view I see that all his infected cells with HIV were eliminated in the process of eliminating cancer cells. Then the cure of his HIV would be obvious since no cell with HIV will have remained. Try to reason it out like that see. Otherwise thank u very much. if give a chance I would follow up such research.(bitjudith@gmail.com)some feedback.may the almighty give you more wisdom on this.

Comment by: Jermaine
(Ausitn, TX. )
Mon., Nov. 2, 2009 at 2:25 pm UTC
These findings give me hope! Also, it saddens me to know that I live in the richest country in the world that will let people die just to make a buck. I guess that's why it's the richest county in the world.

Yes I do, but more importantly, I believe we must hold agencies that receive our Tax Dollars to prevent the spread of HIV ACCOUNTABLE! The answer is not more funding to reduce transmission of HIV, rather redirecting vital resources to HIV Prevention Service Groups that have shown credible results in HIV Intervention and Prevention measures. The focus should be less on the news of a cure (which will not be affordable to the average persons anytime soon), but credible HIV reduction methods and funding what works! Pouring $$ in failed prevention approaches for the sake of gloating about how much a agency is spending on HIV, doesn't address the core issue of ACCOUNTABILITY!

Read more at http://www.TuskegeeNorth.com or http://www.phillyrecord.com *Tuskegee North Report

"Speaking Truth To Power and Demanding Accountability for the American People" ~TNAG

Comment by: Kalpana
(Barcelona)
Sat., Oct. 31, 2009 at 5:08 pm UTC
Thanx a lot for giving hope to millions of people worldwide, i just pray that the whole procedure becomes feasible and approachable for patients worldwide.

Comment by: Tee
(South Africa)
Fri., Oct. 30, 2009 at 5:03 pm UTC
In me HIV is progressing at a very hi-speed. As I write this I have just been diagnosed with TB even when I'm taking ARV's so religiously. Pls. help speeding up the research, we really need it. God bless as u proceed.

Comment by: AkO
(Willingboro, NJ)
Fri., Oct. 30, 2009 at 12:15 am UTC
It is amazing on the one hand to hear of such a great effort by a group of Researchers and Doctors to try and find a cure, and on the other hand greatly disappointing to learn of government bureaucracy and insurance slash drug manufacturing companies concern about profit by settling for disease management via the drugs they provide for the disease as opposed to supporting researches and funding for viable cure that is out there. Well all that apart, for all that have commented on the efforts of the researchers, let all support through whatever fund they can provide towards the research and eventual affordable cure of the deadly disease. Little drops of water can actually form a river. God Bless.

Comment by: Keith
(Knoxville, Tn.)
Sun., Oct. 25, 2009 at 6:35 pm UTC
Going forward I think gene therapy/cellular biology is the way to go for HIV treatment and cure. Individuals, though very thankful for HAART, are just burned out on meds and their toxic affects. And this assumes that you are able to get them in the first place. I am cautioulsy optimistic because money and legislation, unless privately funded, always drives research. I don't think anybody with HIV cares if the virus is potentially hiding out in some crevice in the body as long as they can rest assured that it's ability to replicate has been eliminated. So call it what you may, a functional cure or something else just as long as our cells can be engineered to forever stop the replication of the virus.

Comment by: George
(everywhere)
Sun., Oct. 25, 2009 at 3:52 am UTC
Where are the hiv latent reservoirs ? There's got to be a twist because that kind of chemio can not kill all hiv latent reservoirs. Delta32 mutation transplant is not enough to explain why they can not find any hiv in any place in that man after 3 years, don't forget that the german patient had ccr5 and cxcr4 hiv virus INTEGRATED IN LATENT HIV RESERVOIRS.
Probably hiv latent reservoirs are not so long lasting as they thought and standard haart can not reach any cells.

Comment by: Ron B
(B.G.Ohio)
Sat., Oct. 24, 2009 at 10:35 am UTC
It is certainly a step in the right direction. I wish these doctors had the fight in them to show the world this and stop the pharmaceutical companies from driving good research to oblivian intentionally, so they can make much more money. Keep up the good work. And congress here in the states. Don't just sit on your royal behinds and do nothing about this, like you have in the past. Step forward and get to work on saving lives instead of killing lives in wars. When it comes to doing something good , it is real hard to get the right people to step forward , but when it comes to doing harm to individual lives, it seems, all of congress steps up to the plate right away, why is this?? Get to work congress and sign a bill to help this research. Have something your children will be proud of that you have done.

Comment by: C. Lopez
(New York)
Sat., Oct. 24, 2009 at 12:23 am UTC
God has as much to do this as he has to do with the creation of HIV and AIDS, which have killed millions in agony. So no, the reality is that this cure was found by dedicated doctors and a fantastic patient that were so open to this radical treatment. They are the real heroes.

Comment by: Kola James
(Lagos, Nigeria)
Thu., Oct. 22, 2009 at 9:08 am UTC
We human beings are a by-product of God himself, as many as are willing to subscribe themselves 100% to the pursuit of humanity somehow gets breakthrough in life. thanks for people like you, who are patient, persevering, and enduring in their quest to save mankind.

Comment by: Gene
(Alabama)
Sat., Oct. 17, 2009 at 12:29 pm UTC
Doc, Thank you for your work.God is leading you.He has chosen you .Eventually you will get these bits & pieces together to make a major breakthrough towards the cure for this deadly monster

Comment by: Rockn
(So. California)
Tue., Oct. 13, 2009 at 5:09 pm UTC
Thank you for this very informative and easy to understand article/podcast. As a woman living with the virus for 18 years, this article, keeps the hope alive within me. All of us who are infected need to keep fighting! 1.To stop the stigma 2. To stay alive for the cure 3. To prevent the spread of HIV. God bless everyone involved in the fight.

Comment by: Bernard Munkombwe
(Lusaka, Zambia)
Thu., Oct. 8, 2009 at 8:00 am UTC
Its very interesting to read this story.What can happen if one´s blood and other fluids in the body which are infected with HIV are removed completely from his body and be replaced with uninfected blood? Can this person still have HIV in his body? Doc, we pray that God gives you many more days so that you could accomplish your research mission.

Comment by: saratu
(Nigeria)
Tue., Oct. 6, 2009 at 8:02 am UTC
This is the greatest news i have ever received in my life. please keep it God would in his infinite grace help you to get to the top of it, and i know many people would be praying for you and your organisation as soon as it get to Africa because today there are thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS, so when will this cure get to we Africans if i may ask?!

Comment by: thereishope
(Los Angeles, CA)
Thu., Oct. 1, 2009 at 11:33 pm UTC
This was a very informative article. I believe that more research should be aggressively done to seek 100% uptake of the CCR5 mutation in our cells. It will be interesting to see what happens. Keep hope alive!

Comment by: Alutia Sam
(Soroti, Uganda)
Wed., Sep. 30, 2009 at 1:25 am UTC
My heart lept with joy when I read this story. We surely need a break through in the cure for AIDS. We have many children in Uganda who are suffering and dying innocently. My concern however is that even if a break through is made, the developing nations especially in Africa will be the last to benefit from it.

Comment by: lil yo
(memphis,tn)
Tue., Sep. 29, 2009 at 2:22 pm UTC
Thank god for this wonderful breakthrough. How come this was not made known to the public? Could this really be true? For a person who was infected 15 years ago. When will it be able for other hiv indviduals of the 52 states. will it work for a 32 year old patient who took no medications since 8 years ago?

Comment by: Manila_guy
(Philippines)
Tue., Sep. 29, 2009 at 5:54 am UTC
This medical breakthrough is good news to all HIV positive like. However, I don't know the monetary side of this. Is this process affordable and accessible to everyone? Let's just all pray that the medical people will discover a more cheaper solution to this worldwide pandemic - the sooner the better. I'm afraid of the long term side effects of the HIV medications.

Comment by: Joe
(south africa)
Mon., Sep. 28, 2009 at 7:41 am UTC
I think African people have this Gene that prevent HIV infection because my girl of 6 yrs is HIV- after being tested many times. We have a child and we have never used protection before I found out about my status 1 yr ago. We use protection now, but I think she has that Gene as well and maybe many others do.

Comment by: Nicole
(Hamshire)
Sun., Sep. 27, 2009 at 11:28 pm UTC
I am so glad science made such a huge development. I have been saying for 5 years to my husband that the CCR5 site had to be the one site on the cell to ptevent bonding. Thank God there is now treatment w/o toxic meds.

Comment by: chaya
(Bostonn)
Sun., Sep. 27, 2009 at 6:44 pm UTC
Please stop politics and money making on this issue, the cure is there let's just do the right thing. Cure has been available along time ago but the pharmacitical companies having been blocking it. You are just evil, you cousings of the devil. All what matters to you is money, see you in heaven.

Comment by: Chhnwe abogunrin
(Nigeria)
Sun., Sep. 27, 2009 at 5:04 pm UTC
This is so amazing. Good work. The question now is -- How easy is getting a suitable donor? How practical is this cure in terms of affordability? But it's a cheering development. Good work!

Comment by: David
(Seattle, WA)
Sat., Sep. 26, 2009 at 4:17 pm UTC
I'd actually heard about the Delta32 mutation about a year ago, and wondered why I hadn't heard about more research on it. Not even my doctor knew about it until recently...why is this? Why aren't there researchers all over the world jumping on this once-in-a-lifetime chance at curing a seemingly incurable disease?

Comment by: Cecilia Muchemi
(Nairobi)
Sat., Sep. 26, 2009 at 10:37 am UTC
Thanks for this story of hope. Am sure it's quite expensive to do the transplant. It's a good show that the scientists are thinking of a cure and will work towards getting a cure. The main worry now in poor countries is that there is not much options once somebody is resistant to 2nd line of ARV.

Comment by: Asian guy
(Australia)
Sat., Sep. 26, 2009 at 6:46 am UTC
This is really heartwarming news. Also, this week a HIV vaccine trial in Thailand found a vaccine that appears to reduce the risk of HIV infection by 31%. On top of that, a researcher at the University of Miami is preparing to start human trials for a vaccine that may help fight off HIV in people already infected with the virus. These doctors and researchers are amazing people who are working so hard to find a cure/vaccine for HIV - a big thank-you for all of you!
(I really can't understand why people would thank their non-existent "God" instead? It's always HUMANS who help other fellow human beings in mankind history. What has "God" done? Nothing.)

Comment by: Michael
(Los Angeles)
Thu., Sep. 24, 2009 at 6:10 pm UTC
Why are scientists not jumping on this opportunity to find a cure?
This is the most promising thing I've heard so far.
What does it take to make the research for this cure move faster?
LETS DO THIS!
YES WE CAN!
Spread the word people. don't just let it sit here on a website that only a certain amount of people know about.
SPREAD THE WORD!

Comment by: RobertL
(palm beach FL)
Thu., Sep. 24, 2009 at 11:29 am UTC
Terrific story! Thanks so much for providing this. So good to know that there ARE people who care and are working to end this pandemic. Good to know that the goal is not only to make more drugs!

Comment by: JB BARAHIKA
(Uganda-East-Africa)
Thu., Sep. 24, 2009 at 11:01 am UTC
You guys you've done great research, keep it up guys. Our country has lost many resourcefull citzens to AIDS. WE hope you can find a cure. May God give all the wisdom and guidance.

Comment by: JOHN
(INDIA)
Thu., Sep. 24, 2009 at 12:44 am UTC
I HAVE READ THE INTERVIEW. IT IS REALLY GREAT TO KNOW THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINES. ABOVE ALL IT IS THE MIRACLE OF GOD THAT HAS HAPPENED. LET US PRAY THAT THROUGH PEOPLE LIKE DR.Jeffrey Laurence, M.D. MAY GOD WORK MIRACLES.

Comment by: Henry
(NYC)
Wed., Sep. 23, 2009 at 11:12 am UTC
I thought zinc finger technology was able to knock out CCR5 100% so it's surprising to hear Dr. Laurence say that it isn't. There's an ongoing clinical trial that seems to be going well, and a new second phase I trial about to start (both from Sangamo Biosciences), that are looking at mutating CCR5 with ZFN.

Comment by: Alejandro Bravo
(Mexico City, Mx)
Wed., Sep. 23, 2009 at 9:47 am UTC
I wish this investigation be done shoulder to shoulder with all the countries with a high population of persons with this disease.

Comment by: Peter Donnelly
(Dunedin, New Zealand)
Wed., Sep. 23, 2009 at 6:30 am UTC
Extraordinarily good article! Thanks a lot, Body! (Isn't it pathetic that some people read about the wonderful work being done by scientists and medics and who do they turn round and thank? They thank a non-existent "loving God" . . . who has done absolutely nothing to rid us of this dangerous virus and who presumably was responsible for creating it in the first place!)

Comment by: Marija
(Namibia)
Wed., Sep. 23, 2009 at 2:43 am UTC
Thanks to the the Almighty God who give dr. Lawrense and his team the wisdom. May they continually be inspired. It give all of us hope that one day this virus will get a cure.

Comment by: mike
(nj,usa)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 6:11 pm UTC
I think people with HIV who are really sick and have resistance issues should be allowed to have that procedure done. 15% of dying is not that high if it means you will be cured. some people - including me - would have that done if it meant a 50% chance of death, but that's just me. let's hope for speedy research and cure within next 5 to 10 years.

Comment by: Sharon Powell
(Miami, Fl)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 5:47 pm UTC
Very interesting article and promising research. Lets hope this will be the beginning to an affordable way of treating/ curing people who are HIV positive.
It is always good to refocus on HIV, I use to work in HIV but since I left the area I do not focus as much on the condition. The sad thing is it is still a reality, now more than ever.
Thanks for the interesting article.

Comment by: betty wheeler
(sacramento, california)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 1:33 pm UTC
My son is 35 years old. I just found out he was diagnosed with HIV around 2005. I am devastated. He is half black and half white. His cd4 count is 608 and viral load is 2,430. He is not on medication. His cd4 count was 800 2 years ago. How can he keep his cd4 count from dropping? His doctor said it drops a 100 each year. I feel so helpless. What can he do to stabilize this?

Comment by: portia
(south africa)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 12:39 pm UTC
This is something to be done not only in one man. People are dying,how can we best work more than before and come up with a cure and how possible to find more people that are immune to HIV, what ever somethinh should be done. I'm so surprised with the story. Thanks to the doctors.

Comment by: diane
(jacksonville)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 10:38 am UTC
Thank you Dr Laurence for allowing God to use you in this field to try and find a cure for this! We will be praying for you. Thank god you stepped up to the plate.

Comment by: JOHN
(KENYA)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 9:22 am UTC
THIS IS GOOD NEWS TO THOSE WHO ARE SICK LIKE ME.HOPEFULLY THEY WILL COME UP WITH AN AFFORDABLE WAY OF TREATMENT AND EXTEND IT TO THE DEVELOPING WORLD

Comment by: Eddy
(United Kingdom)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 5:29 am UTC
Bonnie Goldman said "Thank you so much, Dr. Laurence. This has been incredibly enlightening. And thank you so much for your work in this area." and I say exactly the same!

This very long article is a work of utter beauty. It shows the power, the potential, and the goodness in humankind - in those who are working so hard to free of this wretched virus.

I'm sending the URL of this page to all those who think the answer lies in praying to gods, God, spirts, fairies, elves, and pixies - as proof of who REALLY works the miracles on this planet! Dedicated human-beings.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Laurence. This has been incredibly enlightening. And thank you so much for your work in this area."

Comment by: Joseph Origa
(Africa (Nairobi_Kenya))
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 2:52 am UTC
Personaly I am down and need support and special care. I appeal to any person, organization or a universty to help me. Am ready to be used for experiment or as needed. Please hear my cry.

Comment by: Mctee
(Botswana, africa)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 2:48 am UTC
This is incredible. It really shows a positive move from our scientist that there is nothing impossible in the universe. If a man can create a virus, why not cure it.

Bravoooooo! But ladies and gentlemen, don't indulge in unprotected sex and say there is cure. Please stay focused maybe you won't be lucky.

Comment by: Mukabire
(Uganda)
Tue., Sep. 22, 2009 at 2:31 am UTC
Thank you for that interesting research. We hope we soon reach to a cure of HIV. I have had HIV for 2 years now and indeed when I hear of such news I get hope.

Comment by: Donna
(Mamaroneck, NY)
Mon., Sep. 21, 2009 at 11:54 pm UTC
I think if we pray for these scientists and Drs, God may grant them the knowledge to do what they say they can do right now and that is replicate it to our own cells. If we all pray for this, I know it would work.

Comment by: Dr Diwakar Tejaswi
(Patna, India)
Mon., Sep. 21, 2009 at 11:34 pm UTC
Very Interesting and encouraging towards HIV Cure research. But apart from HIV Viral load
less than 50 copies in 20 drops of blood , how did the latent virus infection from the GALT or other places were excluded. By chance the Biopsies that were done might be from the nodes devoid of HIV but there might be other nodes with the infection that might have been missed. If Radioactive scan of the nodes could differentiate the infected with uninfected cells, then it might also be of some help.
Dr Diwakar Tejaswi
MBBS(Gold Medallist); MCH; FCCP; Ph.D.
Consultant Physician & Medical Director
PAHAL
Patna, India
Ph: +91-9835078298/ 9431829397

Comment by: Justin
(Bentonville)
Mon., Sep. 21, 2009 at 11:26 pm UTC
Wonderful news! I'm more than a little disturbed about the money part of this. It disturbs me that because we have the ridiculous system we do now that this cure would never have been found in the United States.

Comment by: Chicago guy
(Chicago, IL)
Mon., Sep. 21, 2009 at 11:11 pm UTC
I think the CCR5 mutation is exciting since one of the case studies cited that it is responsible for 5% of the study group not becoming HIV positive, but I am even more excited by the still undiscovered other factors that kept the other 95% of the study group from becoming HIV positive. This means there are many potential discoveries for a cure...possibly some will be easier to implement than the CCR5 mutation. I agree that screening people for the CCR5 mutation is a critical next step, but I am also interested in discovering the other factors preventing HIV in the case study. Thank you for your exciting research! Great work!

Comment by: Kirk
(Dallas, TX)
Mon., Sep. 21, 2009 at 9:22 pm UTC
This is absolutely wonderful news that this research is being done. I will find a way to support further research that moves us closer to a cure. Thank you again for bringing this very enlightening subject to us.

Comment by: Patrick Archer
(Redding Ca)
Mon., Sep. 21, 2009 at 8:36 pm UTC
As a long term survivor with non progression, 22 years, my last CD4 just came in today at 1,159 and zero viral load. I am of euro decent but still want a stem cell transplant so I can help my friends who are in the final stages of AIDS get one too. I was part of a study with NIH back in the early 90's and they found a protein that also helps slow HIV progression but I have never heard anything else about that study. Thanks for the wonderful information update! Patrick in redding, ca

Comment by: An italian guy
(Italy)
Mon., Sep. 21, 2009 at 8:17 pm UTC
We need a genetic mod to replace are cell with delta32 CCR5 mutation. I think we will be able to find it in the future. We are improving our genetic science knowledge, really fast, so I'm positive (in all sense)! :-D

(Please note: Your name and comment will be public, and may even show up in Internet search results. Be careful when providing personal information! Beforeadding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.)

The Body is a service of Remedy Health Media, LLC, 750 3rd Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The Body and its logos are trademarks of Remedy Health Media, LLC, and its subsidiaries, which owns the copyright of The Body's homepage, topic pages, page designs and HTML code. General Disclaimer: The Body is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through The Body should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, consult your health care provider.